Former president Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo (centre), alongside Central Java gubernatorial candidate pair Ahmad Luthfi (right) and Taj Yasin (left), distributing T-shirts during a campaign parade on Jl. Tegal in Purwokerto, Central Java, on Nov 16, 2024. - Antara
JAKARTA: With ruling coalition-backed candidates facing tough competition in the key battlegrounds of Jakarta and Central Java, former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has officially stepped out onto the campaign trail in a final push to boost his preferred candidates’ chances of winning the Nov 27 regional head elections.
Jokowi hit the road on Saturday, a week before the end of the campaign season, participating in a campaign parade in Purwokerto in support of Central Java gubernatorial candidate Ahmad Luthfi and his running mate Taj Yasin.
The two are backed by the Onward Indonesia Coalition (KIM), the electoral alliance behind the victory of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka, the latter being Jokowi’s eldest son.
Riding an open white jeep through the Central Java city, Jokowi, Luthfi and Yasin, were seen distributing T-shirts bearing images of the three and greeting enthusiastic parade-goers.
"I came because I support [them],” said the former mayor of Surakarta, Central Java, when asked by local reporters about his attendance at the parade.
Earlier this week, Jokowi, who also served as governor of Jakarta from 2012 to 2014, made an appearance at a gathering of Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Ridwan Kamil’s supporters in Jakarta.
Wearing his signature white shirt and a pair of black pants, the popular former president openly declared his support for the Golkar politician and his running mate Suswono of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), saying Ridwan was a competent and experienced leader thanks to his previous roles as West Java governor and Bandung mayor.
“He is the right one to lead Jakarta with all the challenges that exist because he is experienced in developing the city of Bandung and the province of West Java," Jokowi said in his address, which was broadcast live by KompasTV.
Jokowi (left) posing with Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Ridwan Kamil (right) in Jakarta, on Nov 18, 2024. - Antara
He further highlighted Ridwan’s education, noting that he was a graduate of the architectural engineering programme at the Bandung Institute of Technology and had a master’s degree in urban design from the University of California, Berkeley, qualifications that the former president claimed made the candidate the right fit to lead Jakarta.
The city, according to some studies, is among the worst designed in the world. “[Ridwan] is knowledgeable in city planning and city landscaping,” Jokowi said.
Lagging behind Jokowi's official endorsement of KIM-backed candidates for the upcoming Jakarta and Central Java races comes as recent surveys show they have been struggling to maintain their lead and consolidate support from within their grand electoral alliance.
Ridwan and Suswono, the initial frontrunner pair in Jakarta, have been overtaken by Pramono Anung and running mate Rano Karno, who are running on the ticket of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).
The Ridwan-Suswono pair have also seen support from KIM members splintering, with politicians from several parties in the grand electoral alliance as well as a prominent volunteer group behind Jokowi and Prabowo, called Bravo 5, declaring their support for Pramono-Rano pair.
The pair suffered another blow last week after former Jakarta governor and unsuccessful presidential candidate Anies Baswedan, who remained hugely popular among Jakarta voters, threw his support behind the Pramono-Rano ticket.
The former served as Jokowi’s cabinet secretary and the latter is a well-known actor turned politician.
Much like the KIM’s Jakarta gubernatorial candidate pair, Luhtfi and Yasin are also facing tough competition from ex-Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Andika Perkasa and running mate Hendrar Prihadi, who are running on the ticket of the PDI-P, which has for years been the largest party in Central Java.
The province has become a proxy battleground between the PDI-P and Jokowi, a former PDI-P member who parted ways with the party after tacitly supporting Prabowo’s presidential bid on a rival ticket rather than backing the party’s nominee, Ganjar Pranowo.
Analysts said that while Jokowi still retained enough political clout to influence the outcome of the November elections, remaining widely popular in opinion polls when he left office last month, that did not guarantee victory for KIM candidates.
Unlike in Central Java, where the former president holds significant sway among voters, Jokowi’s open endorsement in the Jakarta race may not significantly boost the Ridwan-Suswono pair’s standing, said political analyst Yoes Kenawas of pollster Lembaga Survei Indonesia (LSI).
“Even if both Prabowo and Jokowi [openly endorse Ridwan], figures that hold significant sway in Jakarta remain, [including] Anies, whose large bloc of supporters are undecided, and, to a certain extent, [former Jakarta governor] Basuki [Tjahaja “Ahok” Purnama],” Yoes said.
In fact, he added, Jokowi’s endorsement of the KIM-backed candidate “may backfire as it creates the perception among the middle-class voters, which dominate Jakarta, that Ridwan and Suswono sought help from the higher-ups”.
Kennedy Muslim, senior researcher at pollster Indikator Politik, said the recent focus on securing endorsements from influential figures such as Jokowi showed a change in candidates’ campaign tactics.
“With both candidate pairings still relatively neck and neck in the last week of the campaign window. They are trying their best to maximise any endorsements they get,” Kennedy said on Monday.
Nevertheless, the November race remained wide open, he continued, noting that how each candidate spent the last days of the campaign window would influence voters’ preferences. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
